Located in the old section of Greenwood Cemetery is the grave of Samuel J. Fuller, a Civil War veteran. Fuller didn’t have a stone memorial, so Thief River Falls resident Mark Beedy enlisted the help of Pennington County Veterans Service Officer Steve Stone and completed the proper paperwork with the military to have a stone memorial placed over his grave.

by David Hill
Editor

“There is no future without the past” is a quote that appears on every email from Mark Beedy. Genealogy has always fascinated him. In genealogy, not only do you learn about your family, but you learn a little bit about yourself; so, perhaps it’s true that there is no future without the past. Beedy said it’s also surprising and fascinating to see how past and present individuals connect.

Beedy is getting a fair amount of publicity after he recently made sure a veteran – a Civil War veteran – had a proper grave marker.

During his search into his father’s family, Mark Beedy of Thief River Falls discovered some interesting relatives, one of which was Dr. Charles Eckardt. Eckardt had an interesting life as a director of music, composer and teacher. He also had a son who fought and died in the Civil War during the battle at Dinwiddie Court House. He was buried where he died, but they were unable to recover the body because a road was built over the grave. Beedy had a stone erected for Eckardt and a memorial to his son placed on the back of his stone. (Submitted)

It began a couple of years ago when he discovered a post on a website called findagrave.com.
According to the website, Find a Grave is the best place on the internet to look for burial and other final disposition information for your family, friends and famous people. The site provides tools that let people from all over the world work together, share information and build an online, virtual cemetery experience.

The post Beedy discovered was a request for information about a Civil War veteran named Samuel J. Fuller who may have been buried in Thief River Falls.

Beedy is very familiar with Greenwood cemetery and has access to records at the cemetery.
Officials at Greenwood Cemetery said that they wish they had a 100 people like Beedy. Beedy is not only familiar with the cemetery, but has on numerous occasions straightened, cleaned and adjusted stone markers.

Because of his knowledge of the cemetery and access to the records, he was able to figure out where Samuel Fuller was buried. He discovered, however, that Fuller lay in an unmarked grave, which is something he found unconscionable.

A memorial to Dr. Charles Eckardt’s son was placed on the back of his stone. Charles Henry Polk Eckardt fought and died in the Civil War during the battle at Dinwiddie Court House. He was buried where he died, but they were unable to recover the body because a road was built over the grave. Beedy had a stone erected for Eckardt and a memorial to his son placed on the back of his stone. (Submitted)

Fuller had served with Company B, 4th Minnesota Infantry during the war. He deserved a military marker.

According to military records, Fuller was born in Vermont on July 15, 1833 but came to Minnesota. He enlisted into the Army on Nov. 1, 1861 at Fort Ridgely, which at the time was located near Fairfax in southwestern Minnesota. He was discharged at Point Lookout, Miss., on Nov. 2, 1864. After discharge, Fuller moved to California to farm but returned to Minnesota at age 80. His son, William B. Fuller who lived in Thief River Falls, was listed as his nearest relative. Fuller died at the age of 96 on Aug. 21, 1929, in Thief River Falls.

Beedy turned to Pennington County Veterans Service Officer Steve Stone in an effort to get a stone placed on the grave.

Beedy said it wasn’t too difficult, though the military is quite specific about what it wants as evidence of burial. After completing the appropriate paperwork, the stone was ordered from the Memorial Programs Service, Department of Veterans Affairs in Quantico, Va. It was delivered to Johnson Funeral Service in Thief River and placed on the grave last week.

During the process of getting a memorial stone for Fuller, Beedy also noticed there was an unmarked grave next to Fuller. He learned that another veteran, Joseph Meyer, was buried there. He began and completed necessary research to get approval for a memorial for Meyer. The interesting thing he learned, however, is that on his military registration, Meyer spelled his name Meyer, but it eventually became Meyers.

Beedy’s interest in genealogy began in 1997 when he wanted to learn more about his father’s family.

In 2016, when he made a trip to Front Royal, Va., to do some genealogy research on the family of his great grandmother, he discovered that a third great grandfather of his, Dr. Charles Eckardt, did not have a grave marker. He died on April 1, 1879. While doing research to discover where he was buried, he also learned that he had a son, Charles Henry Polk Eckardt, who was killed in the last days of the Civil War at the Battle of Dinwiddie Courthouse on March 31, 1865. He was buried where he died. When the family was able to retrieve his body for a proper burial, it was discovered that a road had been built over his grave, so his body could not be recovered. Beedy then decided that he would have Eckardt’s son’s name placed on the back of his father’s marker so that at least he could be remembered during Memorial Day services by the Daughters of the Confederacy.

Beedy said his only intent in sharing this story is to encourage others to learn more about their families. One of his favorite sources of information are journals. He encourages everyone to locate, save and publish those journals for future generations.